


Through the eyes of a child

by WritersBlock_Liz



Series: Penny Parker 2020 [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Female Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26396185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritersBlock_Liz/pseuds/WritersBlock_Liz
Summary: Summary: People always told Penny she was her father's daughter. And she would agree. The question was just...which father? Richard…or Tony?
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Penny Parker 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900864
Comments: 6
Kudos: 113





	Through the eyes of a child

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, thank you so much for all the kind reviews and prompt ideas.  
> This one has been swimming in my head for a while. Not super happy though with how it turned out but I still hope you will enjoy it.  
> This one has a bit more feels and angst in it and more IronDad.

### Story Five: Through the eyes of a child

Appearance wise, Penny had inherited most of her looks from her mother.   
The dark brown hair with its curly tendencies. The olive coloured skin and delicate aristocratic features and small built.   
The only thing appearance wise that clearly came from her father were her eyes.   
One brown, one green.   
Heterochromia.   
It was the first difficult word she had ever learned because from the time she entered kinder-garden all the way through to high school, people would be taken aback by her eyes.   
Some would ask her if she wore coloured contact lenses, others asked if she was blind in one eye because of it and some, like Flash, found a reason to use it to bully her.   
For most of her life it had been hard looking at the world with her father's eyes.   
She wasn’t the only one it had been hard on…  
In the first months after her parents had died, Ben hadn’t been able to look Penny in the eyes.   
Only when the grief of Richards and Mary's deaths had lessened somewhat had he dared to look at her.   
Penny used to beg May to get her brown coloured contact lenses so she could have normal eyes like everybody else.   
But May never had.   
After Ben's death and her growing into her role Spider-Girl, getting involved with Tony Stark and her and May finding a new family in the Avengers, she had gained confidence in her appearance so much that not even Flash bothered to try and bully her about her eyes.   
Penny had embraced her looks and every morning she was reminded of her parents but now it didn’t make her sad. It made her happy.   
They would live on through her and that was all that mattered.   
.  
.  
Penny sat Indian-style on top of the kitchen counter, doing homework while Tony prepared dinner. The delicious smell of homemade food was mouth-watering and distracting.   
Once more Penny forced herself to read the page she had been trying to read and comprehend for the past fifteen minutes.   
“The sixteenth century is defined by its unrest in…”  
“Sir, Captain Rogers is approaching the penthouse.” FRIDAY announced, just as the elevator doors opened and Steve strolled inside, a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder and a relaxed smile on his mouth.   
“Hey kid!” he greeted her when he saw her.  
“Hey Cap!” she waved at him before returning to her page.   
“...unrest in many parts of Europe due to…”  
The elevator opened again and this time Natasha, Clint and Sam walked into the common area.   
Knowing it was futile to try and finish her homework she shut her book and stuffed it back into her bag.   
“Go set the table, will you Penny? The others will be here soon.” Tony asked over his shoulder. Penny nodded and slid off the counter.   
“I’ll help, it’ll be faster that way.” Steve offered.   
“No Steve, you just got here. I’ve got it handled.” Penny assured him.   
She knew from experience that the drive from the city to the Compound was a long and boring one and Steve looked tired.   
“I got it.” she assured him once more and he smiled, nodding his thanks.   
Using her heightened sense of balance and her sticky fingers, Penny carried a huge pile of dinnerware and cutlery to the dining room table and set it all up for dinner.   
When she returned, Rhodey and Bucky had appeared as well and Scott just stepped out of the elevator behind Bruce.   
She was greeted by all of them with warm smiles and a few hugs.   
“Is everyone here? Good, then let's get dinner started, my Spider-Baby is starving, I am sure.” Tony asked out loud, checking who was there.  
Penny rolled her eyes but it was undercut by her stomach rumbling loudly.   
Mr. Stark put his hands on her shoulders and steered her towards the dining room.   
The others followed suit with Rhodey and Scott carrying the food.  
Everyone sat down in their usual spots and dinner got started. 

As usual it was a calm and domestic affair.   
Everyone was talking with everyone across the table and conversations varied from sports to business dealings to foot-cramps.   
“I swear, I get them every time I eat bread! Maybe it's like a symptom of a gluten allergy or something.” Scott swore and pushed the basket with Tony’s self-made bread away.   
Sam shook his head. “How many more allergies are people trying to make up?”   
“It’s a real allergy.” Rhodey pointed out.   
“Yeah but half the plant thinks they are allergic and they're not!” Sam shot back. Then he turned back to Scott. “And until you get tested by a doctor, neither are you.”   
Scott huffed. “Fine, whatever. So…about tomorrow…” he began but suddenly he was being shushed by everyone.   
“SHHH! No Scott!” said Clint.   
“Yeah, come on man!” added Sam.   
Scott raised his hands defensively. “Whoa, what’s going on, you don’t even know what I was going to ask!” he grumbled.   
“Yes, we do.” Nat said.   
“You were going to ask about the mission tomorrow.” Steve explained.   
Scott frowned. “How did you…”  
“You can’t ask about it.” Tony told him.   
“And why...why can’t I?” Scott asked, sounding very confused.   
“We don’t talk about a mission on the night before it.” Penny explained.   
“The Spider-Baby is right.” Natasha agreed.   
Scott frowned again. “And why? I have questions.”   
“Which will all be answered in tomorrow's briefing.” Steve assured him with a smile.   
“But why…”  
“Because it’s bad luck. Every time we’ve discussed a mission on the night before it happened, something went wrong. Someone either got shot, abducted, a plane crashed, weapons and suits malfunctioned, bad-guys had a back-up-surprise we didn’t know about or won...So...now we don’t talk about missions on the night before.” Penny explained through a mouth full of pasta.   
“Mind your manners” Tony told her but it was soft and with a hidden smile but to Scott he added “She is right.”  
Scott shook his head. “Never took you guys for superstitious people.” he muttered.   
“Oh, I’m not. And neither is Bruce. We just got bullied into it. Like you will be. But Steve and Barnes grew up in the 1920s and fought in World War II, Rhodey’s grandmother used to scare the living daylights out of us when we were younger with her stories and to this day the woman will not step outside her house on a Friday the 13th, Sam is in the military where they are all superstitious, Nat is Russian so there you go, Clint beliefs all sort of shit like in Lizard-People so superstitions aren’t that far off and May is Italian, which is almost worse than Russian when it comes to superstition and she transferred some of that onto Penny so now… we don’t talk about a mission on the night before it.” Tony ranted.   
“Being Russian or Italian does not make you superstitious by default.” Nat grumbled.   
“Exactly. It’s only when crazy shit starts happening and things begin to line up and make sense that you start thinking that maybe something's not quite right here…” Penny explained.   
“Exactly.” Nat agreed and they high-fived.   
“Also, May always says that Ben and my father weren’t any better.”   
Tony raised an eyebrow. “You father? The renowned and world-wide acclaimed geneticist Richard Parker was a superstitious man?” He shook his head. “This just rattles my whole world view.”  
Penny shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. When they died, I was three. But Ben used to tell me stories of how their father would get them to do their chores by telling them bad things would happen to families where kids didn’t help their parents.”  
“What’s so wrong about that, it’s a parenting technique I use with my kids.” Clint pointed out.   
“Only it made my father and uncle so afraid and superstitious that my grandfather had to come clean eventually. After that my dad devoted his life to science. But some quirks he never let go off. Like...we weren’t allowed to open umbrellas in our house. Or walk underneath a ladder.” Penny recalled.   
“But your mom must have been better, right? Please tell me she wasn’t crazy like that.” Tony begged.  
Penny laughed. “No, she was fine. She put up with my dad's antics mostly because she thought it was funny. But it stopped being funny when they got home one day and found the mirror in the bathroom had somehow broken while they were out. My Dad apparently then got out the salt and walked through the entire house, throwing salt over his left shoulder with each step to avoid bad luck or something. After that she sat him down and told him to use his brain. And then the vacuum to clean up the mess he had made.”  
The others laughed and Penny joined them.   
“I didn’t make the connection that Richard Parker was your father.” Bruce said when things had calmed down slightly.   
“Did you know him?” Penny asked.   
“Know him? Penny I don’t think you quite understand how famous your parents were in the scientific community. When they died it was a shock for a lot of people.”  
Penny leaned back, contemplating what he had just said.   
She had known her parents were the leading experts in their field but she had never given it a lot of thought.   
“I met them once at a conference in Los Angeles. They had just married I think and they were so young but they were already making unprecedented advancements in cancer treatment using their combined knowledge.” Bruce remembered. He smiled.   
She smiled back. “They helped a lot of people.” she agreed.   
“Do you remember them at all?” Natasha asked curiously.   
Penny shrugged. “Bits and pieces. The only clear memory I have of them is of the night they died.”  
She looked up. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, I wasn’t there. They died in a plane crash over the Swiss alps. I wasn’t there. But the night they died is the same night they left me at May’s and Ben's house. And from what the police later told us the plane crashed that very same night. But we didn’t know that until weeks later because it took them that long to locate the wreckage.”   
“Well...I’m still sorry. They could have changed the world.” Bruce said softly, before adding: “You have your father's eyes.”   
Penny laughed. “Yes. Yes Bruce, I do. Thank you. Anyway, that was a long time ago. I’ve come to terms with their deaths.”  
Next to her, Tony clapped his hands together. “Okay, change of topic, things got really moody right there, don’t need that kind of atmosphere for tomorrow.”  
“I thought you didn’t believe in things like that.” Scott said accusingly.   
Tony stared at him and said in a dead-beat voice: “Scott...there’s aliens and multiple worlds out there, you shrink down to sub-atomic levels, I fly around in a metal suit, Wanda can read minds...who knows what else we thought impossible is actually possible? Including karma and superstitions.”  
Scott looked downtrodden. “Oh man, I really hoped you’d be safe.” he muttered.   
Penny laughed. “Don’t worry Scott, in a few weeks you’ll be just like us. A superstitious mess.”   
“Speak for yourself.”   
And with that the evening continued calm and happy as before.   
.  
.  
.  
Penny stood in the hanger bay, already dressed in her suit except for her mask, checking her web-shooters and made sure her supply of reserve cartridges was fully stocked.   
Her hair fell into her face and with a disgruntled huff she flicked it out of the way.   
“Need help with that?” Tony asked behind her.   
She turned around and saw him standing there with a hair-brush and hair-ties.   
“Yes please.” she said with a smile.   
He nodded over to the table where Cap had finished their debrief an hour ago. Everyone was getting ready around them.   
They’d be wheels up in less than twenty minutes.   
“Hop on.” Tony told her and she sat down on the table with her back to him.   
He began brushing out her hair, separating it into even sectioning and began braiding.   
“Sooo…” he began, “There is still time to back out…” he offered.   
She groaned. “Tony…” she began.   
“I know, I know...you are ready and have been on missions with us a dozen times before, I know! Just...you don’t have to come because you think you have to prove to me that you are capable and strong and all that. I know that Pen.”  
“I’m not doing this for you Tony. I’m doing this with you for everyone else. For all those who cannot protect themselves or need help doing it. And that includes, on occasion, helping you guys raid secret underground warehouses and human experimentation facilities.”  
He pulled slightly too hard on her hair and she winced.   
“Sorry.” he muttered. “I just don’t want you to think that you have to come on every single mission. You can say no!”  
She snorted. “Tony, you already pre-select all the missions I can come to. That doesn’t leave many missions to begin with. So I take whatever I can get.”  
He finished the braid portion on her scalp and now much swifter he moved down the free hanging ends of her hair and with practiced movements he tied the ends together tightly with a hair-tie before moving on to the next braid.   
“Yeah, well Cap would have you come with us to pretty much every corner of the globe if it were up to him.” he grumbled.   
Penny rolled her eyes. “Tony, I stand by what I told you last year. My main responsibility is looking out for the little guy. But I won’t sit by idle and watch when my help is needed elsewhere too. Cap knows that. And he respects that. You just worry too much.”   
“You are my kid. It’s only natural. The other day Morgan said she wanted to be a superhero when she grew up and I almost had a complete meltdown.”  
“You had a meltdown. Pepper called me and told me all about it….Auuu….Not that tight Tony!” she swatted at his hand when he pulled her hair again.   
“Sorry. The point is: Please be careful out there today. This might be bigger than expected.”  
“I’m always careful.”   
“Now that is debatable...you’re all done by the way.”   
She hopped off the table and ran her hand over her head, feeling the braids.   
“Thanks Tony. They’re perfect.”   
“Yeah, not bad, where did you learn to do that so neatly? Mine always end up crooked. Now Cassie does it herself and it looks so much better.” Scott wondered as he came strolling over.   
“Even sections. That's the secret.” Tony said with a grin. “I grew my hair long in college. To piss off my dad. My aunt Peggy showed me how to style my long hair in various ways, including braids. It was incredible. I’ll see if I have some pictures left somewhere, I’ll show them to you later when we get home.” he promised.   
Penny giggled. “Somehow I can’t imagine you with long hair and yet the idea sounds good in my head.” she admitted.   
“I also know how to do a decent mani- and pedicure. All courtesy of the most amazing badass woman that ever lived. My aunt Peggy.”   
“Yeah, Peggy was something else.” Steve agreed as he approached them.   
He was in full uniform, cowl and everything. The shield was strapped to his back and his boots made soft squeaking noises on the floor.   
Bucky was just a step behind him. His meal arm glistened in the neon light and he was armed to the teeth. The exact opposite of Steve really.   
“Remember that one time she made Colonel Phillips hold her nail-polish?” he asked and both snorted at the memory.   
“If you are down gossiping about hair and Make Up ladies, might I suggest we get at it?” asked Nat from where she stood on the open ramp of the Quinjet.   
“Yeah yeah, we’re coming.” Tony grumbled, putting one arm around Penny’s shoulder to escort her to the plane.   
“You did all your homework, right? You know the deal, school before missions!” he asked.   
“Oh my god, yes Tony I did my homework. Do you want to proofread it while we’re flying?”  
“No...but I could quiz you. Your next AcaDec meeting is coming up right?”   
“Oh please spare us! It’s frustrating enough to have to listen to you ramble on a day to day basis so please don’t make us sit through an extreme version of ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ with two certified geniuses!” Sam groaned.   
“Oh please, _‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’_ can’t even compete with AcaDec!” Tony said, waving Sam's complaint aside.   
“And I’m not certified.” Penny added.   
“Something we should definitely look into tomorrow.” Tony added.   
Penny blushed. “That’s not what I meant…” she grumbled as she took her seat and began strapping herself into the harness.   
“Oh, we’re doing it. We have a bet running around to see how high your IQ is. And we want answers cause there’s quite a bit of money in said betting pool!” Tony promised, making his way over to the cockpit where Clint was already doing all the pre-flight checks.   
“What? You can’t bet on something like that!” Penny squeaked.   
.  
.  
As the Quinjet raced through the air, camouflaged against the bright blue sky above them and the deep blue of the ocean below them, calm settled over the cabin.   
It was always like that.   
After the briefing, when everything had been explained and settled and everyone was assigned their positions and tasks, on the flight to the battle everyone would go into themselves and get ready for what was to come.   
Penny went over the briefing once more in her head.   
A sub-division of HYDRA called Scylla, after another ancient Greek monster, was conducting human experiments in an underground facility off the Norwegian coast and probably had been doing it for the past ten to fifteen years.   
Only recently had the researchers and intelligence members of SHIELD been able to identify a pattern, when one of their own members had gone missing.   
It had set off the search which had revealed this subdivision and their kidnapping of people from all across the globe.   
But since information on them was spares, nobody knew what to expect.   
And under normal circumstances they wouldn’t even move in on them with so little to go on but the SHIELD agent who had gone missing had been carrying sensitive information that could not get into the wrong hands.   
So the Avengers were deployed with all available members going on this mission.   
And Penny.   
Normally this wasn’t the type of thing she’d come along with and certainly not something Tony would pick for her.   
But Penny had the lingering feeling that Steve had talked Tony into bringing her.   
They needed the extra hands.   
Because nobody knew what they were getting into.   
She tried not to think too much about it and concentrated on her role.   
Perimeter control and webbing up bad guys and drawing them out.   
She could do that. It was usually what she did when she went on missions with the Avengers but really, she liked that part just as much as rescuing victims or hunting down the bad guy in charge.   
She checked her web-shooters.   
Fully charged and loaded.   
To make sure the release mechanisms were working she flicked her wrist and a web shot from her hand and attached itself on the wall right between Sam’s and Bucky's heads.   
Both jumped in their seats and Sam cursed.   
“Fucking hell kid, what was that for? You know he’s old, he could have a heart attack!” he shouted, gesturing at Bucky with his thumb.   
“Hey, language.” Steve said mildly but he was smiling.   
“Who’re you calling old? Need I remind you that you are the one constantly complaining about your aching back? Old my ass, I’m in better shape than you!” Bucky shot back at Sam.   
“Sorry, just making sure my web shooters are working.” Penny said with a smile, detaching the web.   
“Urgh...this stuff is just nasty.” Sam muttered. “I’m just glad it’s not coming out of you.”   
He touched the web, just as Penny warned: “Don’t touch it, I don’t have the dissolvent with me.”   
Too late.   
Sam stared at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”  
“Hey, what’s going on back there?” Tony yelled from the cockpit.   
“I’ve got webs all over me!” Sam complained.   
Penny rolled her eyes. “Oh please, it’s one string of web and I warned you not to touch it.”  
“It’s not getting off!”  
“Well if you had listened to me…”   
“Listened to you? If you hadn’t shot in the first place we wouldn't be here! I thought we had a ‘No powers or weapons on the plan’-rule!”   
“Hey” Tony shouted, turning around in his chair “Don’t make me turn the plane around!” he threatened with a raised finger. And then looking at Rhodey he added: “Deal with that, will you?”  
Rhodey frowned. “What do you want me to do? Send them in timeout?”  
“Just do something or this will be a long flight.” Tony sighed.   
Just then Sam exclaimed: “Urgh! It’s in my hair! Steve!”   
Steve just laughed.   
.  
.  
They landed further north of Tromso towards the very top of Norway in a harsh and cold evening night.   
Around them the rough cliffs rose high and there was no light around or any sign of human habitation.   
The second Penny got off the Quinjet she turned the heater in her suit on and carefully approached the cliffside they had landed on.   
With the night-vision mode built into her mask she was able to observe their surroundings.   
“Woha…” she whispered when she saw the shear drop and then the fjord opening up before her.   
She could almost imagine Viking ships coming in from a raid to land on the beach down below.   
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Rhodey asked, stepping up next to her.   
“It is. Have you ever been here before?” she asked, still gazing at the amazing sight before her.   
“I was stationed here a couple of months after I finished basic training. It was nice but I cannot make heads or tails of the language.” he admitted. “Come on, Cap wants to get going.”  
Because of the remote location of the bad guy’s lair, they could not approach with the Quinjet since they'd see it coming a mile away.   
So they had to make the last mile of their journey on foot.   
Well...not foot. With three members of the team capable of light they flew the last mile.   
Scott shrunk down and settled in the breast-pocket of Sam's suit while Steve, Bucky and Clint hitched a ride with Tony and Rhodey.   
Natasha, of course, had a rocket-backpack and offered to give Penny a lift.   
Bruce stayed behind with the Quinjet in case they needed either air-support, medical-support or the mission turned into a code green.   
Swinging from a web attached to Nat, Penny flew through the night and wondered not for the first time how her life turned out this way.  
.  
.  
The element of surprise had lasted exactly ten seconds before the first rocket-launcher shot a missile at them, forcing them to break formation.   
Nat had veered off sharply to the right and dropped low.   
Penny had jumped off as soon as the ground was close enough, rolling into a ball and coming back up on her feet in a second.   
Sirens wailed and one by one huge flood lights lit up the darkness around them.   
Her com burst alive.   
_“Well that went to shit fast. Must be a new record.”_ Clint drawled in her ear.   
Gun-fire split through the night, adding to the overall noises.   
Her Spider-Sense flared up and Penny ducked, shooting a web over her shoulder.   
A started yell told her she had hit her target.   
A man in a military style uniform struggled a few paces behind her to get the arm she had webbed to a tree free.   
She shot another web, binding both of his arms to the tree and then moved on.   
While most of the facility was underground from what satellite and thermal imaging had revealed, the top-side was still heavily guarded by a twenty-foot-tall wall with mesh-wire on top and guards patrolling.   
Guards with guns and rocket launchers and grenades and tanks and all sorts of stuff.   
“Karen, show me weak points in their protection, where can we get in?” she asked her AI, dodging an oncoming hail of bullets.   
There was little cover close to the walls so for now they had to stay within the tree-line and pick the guards off one by one.   
The familiar whistle of an arrow cut through the air above her and three men were struck in rapid succession, each toppling over the wall and crashed to the ground.   
_“The structural integrity of the border is impressive. We do not currently possess the forces needed to penetrate them. I suggest the sewer gate to the north-east as the easiest point of entry. It’s currently unguarded.”_ Karen informed her cheerfully.  
Of course, there was an unguarded sewer gate.   
“Sewer gate on the north-east side” she bellowed into her com “Karen detects no guards there.”   
_“Copy that Spider-Girl. Widow, Ant-Man, we’re up! The rest: Keep drawing out their fire, keep the occupied long enough for us to get in and locate the hostages.”_ Steve ordered.  
 _“Sure. Is it too early to ask Banner for air-support?”_ Scott asked.   
_“Let’s see how we’re doing first.”_ Tony suggested and Penny saw a repulsor blast in the distance catapulting five men into the air.   
_“Kid, where are you? I don’t have eyes on you.”_ he then added.   
“South-west side by tower. And a bit busy, hang on…” Penny panted as she vaulted over three oncoming guards.   
She landed behind them, went low to swipe the first one’s legs away.   
He fell into his comrade and both went down.   
The third one trained his rifle at her but she was faster.   
She shot a small and precise web at the nozzle of the rifle, effectively jamming it. When he pulled the trigger, the bullet had nowhere to go and instead the rifle exploded in his hands.   
She webbed up the other two and off she was.   
_“We’re in, making our way inside and underground.”_ Steve gave an update, his voice low.   
_“Roger that Rogers, we’re keeping them off your backs.”_ Tony assured him and she saw him deflect yet another missile launched from one of the tanks.   
A thought popped into Penny's mind.   
“Hang on...what’s the plan on getting you guys out again?” she asked.   
There was silence over the coms.   
“There is a plan, right? I just forgot what it was?” she asked to clarify.   
But the muted _“Shit.”_ from Buck was all she needed to hear.   
_“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, Spider-Girl. Focus on the bad-guys.”_ Steve instructed her.   
Another tank went off, firing a tad too far but still the residing explosion rocked the ground.   
What had Karen said? They did not have the power necessary to breach the walls and flying overhead was sure to get you shot down...but…  
“I can make sure you have a way out.” she said, before she had really finished thinking her plan through.   
_“Absolutely not. Keep doing what you are doing, we can extract them with Bruce’s help if we have to.”_ Tony shouted.   
_“What do you have in mind kid?”_ Bucky asked.   
Tony swore, which was sure to get him quite the stern talking by Captain America after the mission.   
“We don’t have the power to go through these walls...but they have tanks…” she said, trailing off slightly.   
“So...if we...let’s say commandeered...a tank...We could blast these walls to pieces…”  
 _“That? That’s your great plan? You don’t know how to drive a tank!”_ Tony growled.   
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t need to drive it, I just need to fire it. How hard can that be?”   
_“I can help”_ Bucky offered, _“I know how to operate a tank. I just need to get in there.”_   
“I can do that. If the others draw their fire to a specific point for a few seconds, I can web us across.” she said confidently.   
_“Do it.”_ came Steve's answer.   
_“Fuck, no! Rogers!”_ Tony protested.   
_“Tony, we don’t have time for this. I trust them.”_  
 _“Fine. But I swear Barnes, if there is one scratch on my kid after this, I’ll be holding you responsible.”_  
 _“Yeah yeah, I know. Let’s go.”_  
Bucky appeared by her side a few moments later.   
“Alright, let’s do this. You got me?”  
She nodded. “I got you.”   
A massive explosion by the western side rocked the topside and a second later Penny had wrapped an arm around Bucky and webbed them upwards and onto the wall.   
Staying low and using the distraction of the combined efforts of Tony, Rhodey and Sam on their side of the wall, Penny lowered them down to the ground and into the courtyard.  
Using the cover of the tower, Bucky scanned the surroundings.   
Seven tanks stood there, facing various ways.   
“That one.” he whispered, pointing at the one closest to them.   
A man came scrambling out of the top, rifle in hand and ran towards the west-side like many of the other henchmen around.   
They must have thought the Avengers were trying to get in through brutal force.   
Penny nodded and crouched down, easily clearing the fifty meters between them and the tank.   
She landed softly in a crouch and peeked inside the tank.   
It was empty.   
She waved Bucky over who came running and joined her on top of the tank.   
He slid inside and she followed.   
Inside it was cramped and there were a lot of blinking lights and it looked rather confusing but Buck immediately set to work.   
“What do you need me to do?” she asked.   
“Keep my back free. Oh and pull that lever.” he said and pointed over his shoulder.   
She did and the entire tank lurched and then slowly started to turn.   
“Cover your ears, this will be loud.” he warned her.   
The tank fire and penny almost lost her footing.   
The explosion rocked the very foundations of the entire wall and felt a huge gaping hole in it.   
The Tank swerved around again and Bucky took aim at a different section of the wall.   
Again the tank shook and again the stone crumbled and fell.   
“That should do it. Let’s get out of here.” Bucky shouted over the noise and slid out of his seat.   
Of course their little stunt hadn’t gone unnoticed.   
As Bucky heaved himself out of the hatch a bullet hit his metal arm.   
“Sniper in the tower!” he yelled out in warning. “Take cover Penny, don’t come out. I’ll deal with it!”   
And then suddenly the hatch was slammed shut and Penny was trapped inside the tank.   
“Bucky wait!” she shouted, slamming her hands against the hatch door. Her hands left imprints in the metal.   
She could have easily opened it but the tell-tale sound of bullets hitting the outside of the tank made her stop.   
They’d shoot her before she even made it out of the tank.   
Her gaze fell onto the many controllers and blinking lights.   
“Right, okay, Karen! Crash course How to drive a tank, go!” she instructed her AI and slid into the seat Buck had sat in.   
_“This is an early version of the ZTZ-99 model, also known as the WZ-123. It has…”_  
“Stick to the important parts Karen!”  
 _“First change the seat. You are sitting in the operators chair.”_  
Penny cursed and switched into the other seat.   
“Okay, what now?”   
_“There should be a periscope at eye level before you. Look through it to see where you are and where you would like to go.”_  
“Found it.”   
Penny glanced through the periscope.   
Outside six or so armed guards were surrounding her tank and as she looked, she heard a deafening ‘CLANG’ on top of the hatch.   
They were trying to get in….  
“Shit, okay Karen, we don’t have much time, how do I get this thing going?”   
_“Do not. Drive. The tank!”_ came Tony's voice in her ear, calm and dangerously low.   
“Do you just want me to sit in here and wait for them to come inside and shoot me?” she asked, following the instructions Karen was projecting onto her HUD-display inside her mask. Underneath her, the tank started to move.  
 _“I mean it Penny, stay where you are, I’m coming.”_  
Behind her the hatch groaned dangerously as the men on top tried to open it and she heard a loud and angry voice yelling something.   
“Yep, not happening!”   
Penny shot a web at the underside of the hatch door and pulled it shut with all her might.   
Holding the string of web tightly with one hand she started steering the tank with the other.   
But tanks were not meant to be driven by one person, let alone by one person who was also playing tug of war with some goons on the outside of said tank.   
_“Penny, may I suggest that you change your current course of trajectory as you will hit the structure in front of you, if you do not.”_  
“Believe me Karen, I know…” Penny muttered.   
The steering wheel looked like a ram's horns and did not react as smoothly as a car's steering wheel.   
“Well, here goes nothing.” she muttered, ranking hard at the left hand side of the wheel.   
The tank slowed down and for a second Penny wondered if she had done something wrong but then she felt the tank slowly start to turn.   
She still didn’t quite clear the building but instead of going through it she just grazed it.   
“Okay, now we’re talking.” she cheered. “Where’s the gas pedal?”   
Karen's answer was drowned out by the heavy CLANG of something landing on top of her tank.   
Something or someone tried to open the hatch again.   
“Kid it’s me, let me in!” she heard Bucky shout.   
She released her web and the super-soldier jumped inside.   
“Sniper?” she asked.   
“Taken care of. Keep going, I have an idea!” he yelled and slid into the other seat.   
“Keep going straight ahead and I’ll clear us another path out of here.”   
“Yes Sir!”  
The tank fired again and Bucky whooped with joy.   
“Man, I haven't done this in ages!” he cheered.   
Penny couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you mean World War II?”  
“Naw, I’m pretty sure I was in the middle east at some point causing chaos. But I also remember driving a tank then.”  
Usually Bucky kept whatever memories he had retained from his time as the Winter Soldier to himself but sometimes, in moments like these he relaxed enough to share them.   
Which was crazy because this was the most un-relaxed place, they could possibly be in.   
“I think I’m getting the hang of this!” Penny announced, swerving around another tank only to crash straight in and through a shed-like building.   
“Ups…” she muttered.   
Bucky laughed. “Keep going, we’re…”  
BOOM.   
Penny's world shook, her head went flying, knocking against something very hard. Everything went black.  
.  
.  
But only for a few seconds.   
Her eyes snapped open.   
Her ears rung.   
She smelt fire and gasoline.   
Her eyes wouldn’t focus…  
But they didn’t need to focus to see that her steering wheel was gone.   
In fact, the entire front of her tank was gone.   
The cold Norwegian night air hit her right in the face and even through her heater she shivered.   
The ringing subsided and was replaced by tiny voices yelling her name.   
She ignored them, instead focused on her spider-sense.   
It too was screaming at her and acting more on instinct than anything else, Penny gathered her strength and vaulted out of the tank's wreckage and somersaulted through the air.   
She landed in a crouch, still blinded by tears and smoke but her spider-sense didn’t fail her.   
Letting it guide her she closed her eyes and started moving again.   
Around her explosions and gunfire tore through the night but also the familiar whine of repulsors and Clint’s arrows.   
She dodged a stray bullet and then she was underground.   
The noises were now muted but not gone.   
Breathing heavily, Penny opened her eyes.   
She was inside one of the bigger buildings.   
It looked like an empty ware-house sort of. A couple of forklifts stood around as well as a few cloth-covered crates.   
And there was a staircase in the ground in front of her, leading straight down.   
Down to the underground labs and the rest of the facility.   
Her com burst to life again.   
She winced.   
_“Penny, where are you? Does anyone have eyes on Penny?”_  
She opened her mouth to answer but suddenly Bucky was next to her.  
“She is with me, we got out.” he said calmly.  
He looked like shit. Clothes burned and smouldering, covering in grime and ashes, lots of cuts and bruises on his face.   
She probably looked just as bad.   
_“Get her out of here Barnes. Bruce is getting the Quinjet here and I want her out!”_ Tony bellowed.   
Once more an explosion rocked the ground, this time though it came from underground.   
Penny and Bruce shared a glance.   
“Steve, come in, are you guys still down there?” Bucky asked, a sense of urgency sneaking into his voice.   
With bated breath, Penny waited for the coms to start crackling and to hear Steve or Nat or Scott.   
Nothing.   
Bucky looked at her, then at the stairs leading down into the ground.   
“I’m not telling him if you don’t.” he whispered.   
“Deal.”   
.  
.  
The stairs seemed to go on forever but in even gaps tunnels would lead off left and right into the dark.   
The stairs were wet and sparsely illuminated but there were markers and signs at each intersection.   
In even intervals Bucky would mark their path with a piece of chalk he’d fished from one of his many pockets.   
“Old school but efficient.” he said when he saw her look.   
“You know Karen is mapping this entire thing out as we walk, right?” she asked.   
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be too reliant on technology. It can fail you. But chalk...chalk is always good.”  
She almost laughed at that.   
.  
Deeper and deeper they went.   
Penny used her senses to try and listen if she could pick up anything on their missing team-members.   
But there was nothing.   
The bad feeling, she had been feeling for quite some time now grew with each step.   
“I can’t hear anything.” she told Bucky in a hushed whisper.   
“Me neither. Something’s not right.”   
Just then Penny sense flared up and she swirled around, web-shooters at the ready when…  
“Steve? Jesus Christ, you scared me! Announce yourself next time!” she breathed when she saw the familiar figure of Cap stepping out of a tunnel to their left.  
“Sorry. I wasn’t sure it was you until you stepped into the light. I was about to say something!” Steve promised.   
Bucky lowered his gun. “Where are the others Steve? And why didn’t you answer your coms?”   
“Coms are dead down here. I guess we’re too far underground or there is something interfering with the signal. Nat and Scott have found the prisoners and are releasing them as we speak. I offered to patrol to make sure we didn’t get any nasty surprises. It’s good to see you, I can use the extra help.”  
He started walking down the stairs and Bucky fell into step next to him while Penny walked behind them.   
She tapped her com.   
Steve was right, it was dead.   
Maybe that was why her Spider sense wouldn’t stop screaming at her...they were totally cut off from everyone down here.   
“What was that explosion we heard earlier coming from down here?” she asked.   
Steve threw a glance over his shoulder. The dim light cast deep shadows over his face.   
“Something in one of the many science labs I presume. We saw many on our way down here.”  
They took a turn and the path narrowed down so that they had to walk single file.   
All the hairs on Penny's body stood on end.  
“Bucky.” she whispered.   
He looked over his shoulder, concerned.   
“What is it?”   
She slowed down and so did he. Steve didn’t seem to notice. He kept on walking.   
“Something is wrong.”   
Bucky frowned. “Your senses? Is there danger? Are we being followed?” he asked.   
“Somethings wrong with Steve.” she whispered.   
Up ahead, Steve seemed to notice they were no longer right behind them.   
“Come on, they need our help.”   
Still walking but slower, Bucky asked: “Wrong how?”   
Steve had stopped right under one of the few lights at another intersection.   
Penny stared at him and her throat closed up.   
_“That's not Steve.”_ she whispered.   
Buck furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you talking about? Look at him. It’s Steve.”   
She shook her head and stopped walking.   
“Spider-Girl, come on, we need to keep moving.”  
The urgency in Steve's voice was...wrong...it wasn’t because he was concerned for them or their teammates no...he sounded...annoyed.   
Everything about Steve was wrong.   
“No Bucky...you look! That is not Steve.”   
Bucky looked at her and then back at Steve by the intersection.   
She could see how his eyes narrowed.   
But Steve was faster.   
From nowhere he pulled a gun and shot at them.   
Penny threw herself onto the floor and tried to roll away but there was no space.   
Not-Steve kept on shooting at them, walking towards them at a brisk pace.   
Bullet ricochet off the walls, sparks flew everywhere.   
Bucky raised his rifle but Penny saw the hesitancy to shoot, even though this was clearly not Steve.   
She had no such hesitancy and shot a web at not-Steve’s feet, yanking him to the ground.   
His gun went flying and Bucky was on him in a second, punching him so hard the imposter went limp.   
Bucky swirled around to her.   
“Are you okay? Were you hit?”   
She shook her head. It was a miracle, really.  
She jumped to her feet and used her webs to hog-tie fake-Steve’s hands and feet together.   
Now, in the light and while he was not moving the uncanny resemblance was striking.   
“Please tell me Steve doesn’t have an evil twin-brother HYDRA kept on ice as well.” she groaned.   
Buck crouched down and examined the man.   
“No, but this...this is...I don’t know what this is. He looks just like him” he looked up at her “How did you know he was not Steve?” he asked in amazement.   
She shrugged. “He...I don’t know, he felt wrong. Also his outfit.”   
Bucky followed her gaze.   
Steve had many Captain-America themed outfits with various renditions of the star spangled banner decorating his clothes. But this right here was not the suit he had worn when they had left New York. It was a good replica of one of his other suits though.   
“Also...he’s too clean. There is not a cut on him, not a piece of dirt anywhere.” she added, gesturing at the pristine condition of the uniform.   
Bucky stood back up. “Well done kid.” he muttered.   
“What do we do now?” she asked. “What if there are more?”   
“I guess we’ll have to keep our eyes open and…”  
Suddenly, without any warning three people rounded the corner fake-Steve had tried to lead them to.   
Penny raised her hands to fight but stopped when she saw Natasha, Scott and the real Steve Rogers.   
All three were covered in dust.  
All three had their weapons raised at them.   
“Stop!” Natasha growled. There was a cut running across her forehead and the left sleeve of her Widow-Suit was missing.   
Bucky raised his gun as well.   
“Identify yourself!” Steve bellowed.   
“Identify ourselves? You identify yourselves!” Bucky growled.   
“Bucky relax, it’s Steve!” Penny assured him. “They are all the real ones.”  
“How do you know?”   
She sighed. “I don’t know, okay, they feel right!”   
“Stop moving!” Nat growled and clocked her gun.   
“Hey, woha, stop Nat, it’s us!” Penny shouted.   
“Prove it.” Scott growled.   
“Prove it?” Penny asked incredulously. She pointed at the motionless figure of not-Steve on the ground, then at the various bullet holes in the walls and then at Bucky and herself.   
“We...him...We just ….look at him! Urgh, fine. Steve, you put pineapple on your pizza, which seriously is a disgrace for all of America. Nat, you own fuzzy pink socks you wear after each mission to relax. And Scott: Cassi does her own braids because your suck!” she huffed annoyed.   
The others lowered the weapons. “Damn it, it’s good to see you.” Scott muttered.  
“What the hell is going on down here?” Bucky asked, lowering his gun.  
“They have clones. Of all of us. And of others as well. We don’t know why or what for but it’s scary and crazy and not good.” Steve informed them.   
“And we have yet to find our SHIELD agent.” Nat added.   
“How is the situation upstairs?” Steve asked.   
“Penny and I blew up some shit with a tank.” Bucky offered and held up his hand so Penny could high-five him.   
“So...it’s going well?” Nat asked, one eyebrow raised.  
“No idea, coms are dead but last we heard Bruce was coming if for air-support.” Penny admitted.   
“So it’s not going well?” Steve wondered.   
“No idea.” Bucky said again.   
“Then we better hurry, they have self-destruct-mechanisms and one already blew up, we don’t know what the timer is on the others but you best believe they will not leave any traces of whatever they’ve been doing here behind.” Nat pointed out.   
“Agreed.” Steve nodded and together they set off.   
.  
Penny slid down the hallway and past the cells on either side, scanning and listening for signs of life. Most were empty.   
The name of their missing agent she’d been given was Gideon Maxwell and she wondered if there was a clone of him as well around here and how she could possibly tell if there was. She simply hoped that the clones were not kept in the cells like their prisoner counterparts.   
The sound of a nearby heartbeat made her stop.   
It came from behind one of the doors on her right.   
Each door had an opening, probably for food or so and she pulled it open, peering inside.   
The calls were barren, wet and dark but she could see a figure huddled in the back corner, staring at her with wide terrified eyes.   
The hair was a bit longer and overall, his entire attire was dirty and dishevelled but that was definitely Gideon Maxwell.   
He stared at her with wide eyes.   
“Hi!” she said cheerfully.   
“Spider-Girl?” he asked, confused. “What are you doing here?”   
“Rescuing you of course!” she said, and grabbed the handle of the door.   
With one movement she tore it clean of its hinges.   
Maxwell flinched in his corner.   
“They sent you?” he asked, somewhat doubtfully.   
“No, the Avengers, I just tagged along. Come on, we have to get going.”   
He picked himself off the floor. “Wait, you need to know…”  
“...about the clones? We already know. Come on.” she said, slightly impatient and waved him over.   
He stumbled along and she held out a hand to steady him which he gladly took.   
They hurried along and around a corner where she almost ran into Bucky.   
“You got him?” he asked, sizing up Maxwell.   
“Yup, let’s get out of here.” she agreed.  
They took Maxwell between them and went back the way they’d come.  
Steve and Nat reached them at the second intersection leaving out of the cells.   
“Scott is scouting ahead. Let’s go.” Nat explained.   
Penny was about to follow them when she stopped.   
“Did you free everyone down here?” she asked, looking around.   
“Yes, we checked.” Steve assured her.   
Penny hesitated.   
There were a lot of noises, a lot of heartbeat around.   
She closed her eyes.   
“There is someone still down here.” she whispered.   
“Can you hear them?” Bucky asked.   
She nodded. She concentrated.   
_Ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum._  
Strong and steady it echoed down the corridor.   
Bucky turned to Steve. “Take him upstairs” he gestured at Maxwell “I’ll go with the kid, make sure everyone out of here before this place gets blown to kingdom come.”  
“Penny, Tony will have my head if I come out of here without you.” Steve said strongly.   
“Yeah, well good thing then I’m coming out, just a bit behind you.” she snapped.   
“Fine, on your heads be it. Let’s go. See you topside.” Steve finally agreed.   
He, Nat and Maxwell hurried along and Penny turned on her heel and sprinted back down the hallway, Bucky right behind her.   
.  
There was a tiny corridor that went almost unnoticed if you passed it by and that was where the heartbeat came from.   
It was so narrow Penny had to turn sideways to walk through it. Bucky had to squeeze his big frame with much force through.   
Then the path widened again and they reached another row of cells.   
All the doors were open except for one.   
And that was where the heartbeat was.   
She ran over to it and tore it off the hinges.   
“Hello?” she asked, as she stepped inside, Bucky right behind her.   
The flashlight on his rifle illuminated the small room.   
It was dark in here, mouldy and it smelled terrible of human excrement.   
Penny was glad the mask filtered out most of the smells but still...it was bad.   
“Hello? Please, we’re here to help.” she called again.   
There was a rustling in the far corner.   
Something moved in the alcove.   
At first it looked like a pile of lumps.   
But then a hand emerged and that hand pushed away long dirty and matted out of a pale face.   
A man, his beard just as long as his air as though he hadn’t shaved or cut his hair in a decade, squinted at then.   
“Americans?” he asked, his voice rough from disuse.   
“Yes. We’re part of the Avengers. This is Lt. Bucky Barnes. My name is Spider-Girl.”   
“Strange name.” he whispered.   
“It’s my Code-Name.” She admitted.  
The man got up and now that he seems to adjust to the light he stopped squinting.   
“I’ve been here for so long...I almost forgot how to speak. Or what other people sound like.” he admitted. “How did you find me?”   
“Honestly, by accident. But that doesn't matter. Can you walk?” Bucky said.   
The man nodded and made some careful steps towards them.   
He straightened up and when he got closer that Penny could finally see his face, she froze.   
There was something in the back of her mind that finally clicked.   
Ever since she first had detected the man's heartbeat something had bothered her about it.   
It had sounded...familiar.   
Almost...like she knew it.   
But she couldn't remember.   
Trying to remember was like trying to access a memory from a dream. Far away and out of reach yet still so tantalizingly close.   
Now that he stood so close to her that she could touch him, his heartbeat was loud as a drum.   
_Ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum._  
She knew that heartbeat.   
An early, early memory rose to the surface of her mind.   
Shaky hands rose and ripped off her mask.   
“Pen, what are you doing?” Bucky asked. She ignored him.  
The man in front of her stared back at her.   
His eyes widened.   
Eyes that were a mirror image of hers.   
_Ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum._  
His heartbeat fastened. She knew that heartbeat. She had listened to it many nights when she couldn’t sleep. It had been her lullaby. But she had almost forgotten about it.  
“Penelope?”  
Richard Parker stared at her with both horror and amazement.   
.  
.  
.  
For a moment neither of them moved.   
“Dad?” she whispered, unable to fully comprehend.   
“Are you...are you my Penny?” he whispered.   
“Yes.” she breathed. “You’re alive. How?” she whispered back.   
He opened his mouth to speak but the earth around them shook.   
“Time’s up. We’ll have to deal with this later.” Bucky shouted and pushed Richard Parker towards the door.   
Penny followed, mind still in a haze.   
Richard threw a glance over his shoulder at her. His eyes, one brown and one green, look at her as though he could not believe them.   
Penny felt the same.   
The earth shook again and she stumbled, catching herself at the last second.   
They rounded a corner and we're back on those stairs   
Smoke and dust filled the stairs, blocking their view.   
But her spider-sense didn’t need eyes to see.   
“Duck!” She shouted and thank god Bucky listened.   
He grabbed Richard and pulled him down with him as Penny jumped into the billowing smoke, straight at the three gunmen who had appeared there.   
She wrapped her legs around the first guy's neck and twisted her body the way Nat had taught her, sending him sprawling to the ground.   
She was up before him and swiping her legs at the next guy.   
He went tumbling down the stairs and out of sight.   
She buried her fist in the solar plexus of guy Nr. 3. He collapsed, gasping for air that wouldn’t come.   
Bucky stood back up, pulling Richard Parker up with him.   
He stared at Penny with huge eyes.   
“That was amazing.” he breathed and a burst of pride flooded through Penny.   
She wanted to answer but her spider-sense hit her forcefully.   
She saw the green laser scope of a rifle searching its way through the smoke and saw it come to rest on Richards chest.   
Penny didn’t think. She just jumped as the shot rang out.  
She collided with her father (HER FATHER!) and they went down, her head smacking against the stone walls.   
“Penny!” Bucky shouted.   
Another shot rang out but this time it was her team-mate who had shot.   
There was the sound of a body hitting the ground somewhere down the stairs.   
But Penny ignored it.   
There was a blinding hot pain in her side and the familiar wetness of blood soaking her suit.   
She gasped for air, trying to get a hold of the pain.   
And then suddenly Richard was on top of her, his eyes wide and fearful.   
“No! Penny, no! Oh my god, he shot her! He shot her, please HELP!” he shouted, his shaking hands pressing onto her side.   
“No, I just got you back Penny!” he sobbed hysterically.   
And then Bucky was there, gently but still definitely pushing his hands away.   
“Penny, kid, look at me!”   
Her head hurt.   
“Penny!”   
Bucky's voice left no room for disobedience.   
She zeroed in on his eyes.   
“Stay awake. You hit your head and your bleeding quite badly. I’m going to pick you up and carry you, okay?”   
She nodded.   
“Good. Stay awake.”  
He picked her up as gently as he could but even he couldn't make a walk upstairs smooth and bump-free.   
She winced and moaned slightly.   
But then, there was someone taking her limp dangling hand and squeezed it reassuringly.   
She craned her head and saw Richard Parker stumbling along, holding her hand tightly.   
He looked incredibly distressed.   
“It’ll be fine.” she whispered. “It’ll be fine dad.”  
.  
When they burst out of the warehouse, Penny saw a lot of chaos and destruction but there was no gunfire, no tanks firing missiles, no sirens, no anything.   
The familiar sound of the Quinjet engines reached her ears.   
It stood in the middle of the courtyard they had stormed earlier and which was now deserted.   
The loading bay door was open and Penny could see Tony appear there when he heard Bucky yell for help.   
His armour was gone and even from this far away she could see how his eyes widened.   
“Penny!”   
After that things went fast and Penny lost track of time and her surroundings.   
Richards hand disappeared from hers and she mewled at the loss of contact.   
Other hands replaced him. Also familiar, also welcome and safe.   
Tony.   
She was aware that it was suddenly very bright around her and then she was cold.   
Her suit was gone and someone prodded her side.   
She groaned.   
“I’ve got you Penny.” Bruce whispered sympathetically.   
Tony’s voice rang out.   
“What the hell happened?”   
“Shot in the side, bullet went clean through.”   
Penny felt as though she was slowly sinking underwater. Everything blurred again and the voices grew muffled and far away.   
A sharp pain in her elbow brought her back up.   
“Sorry Pen.” she heard Sam whisper.   
Outside something exploded again.   
“We’re leaving! Everything is coming down!” she heard Clint yell.   
_Ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum._  
Instinctively she reached out to where the heartbeat was and a hand clasped hers.   
“I’m here baby. I’m here Penny.”   
And then she was under water again.   
Blearily she looked up at the ceiling of the Quinjet.   
Two faces loomed above her.   
Tony...and Richard.   
Her vision swam and their faces blurred together.   
“Dad…” she whispered.   
“I’m here.” they both said.   
And then everything went absolutely black.   
.  
.  
.  
.  
As the first sun rays hit the east coast of the US, so did the Quinjet reach its destination.   
As New York appeared on the eastern seaboard, Tony looked back at the gurney in the middle of the plane, at Penny, who lay unconscious on it, covered in blankets and with an oxygen mask strapped to her face.   
And at the dirty and unkempt figure of Richard Parker who sat next to her, holding her hand.   
The second Penny had been stable enough and they were up and flying back home, Tony had turned to the man who apparently was Richard Parker himself, world renowned geneticists and Penny's biological father.   
The man looked more like a bear with his long hair and beard and the ragged clothes that he wore. He was filthy and stunk but from what Barnes had briefly told him that was to be expected.   
If he really had spent the last thirteen years in this hole in Norway then Tony could hardly hold that against him.   
“FRIDAY, honey do me a favour and run a DNA test on Richard Parker. And on Penny. Tell me if he really is her father.” he muttered under his breath.   
FRIDAY sat to work and for the few seconds it took her to run the analysis, Tony felt hopeful that maybe this wasn’t Ricard Parker. And then he felt horrible. How could he wish that? How selfish could he be? This was Penny's father!  
FRIDAY pulled up her analysis on the inside of his glasses.   
Softly she spoke in his ear.   
_“It’s a match.”_  
Two strands of DNA appeared and then were placed over each other. In places where it was a match it started glowing green.   
There was a lot of green.   
He took a deep breath and tucked the glasses away and approached the gurney.   
Parker looked up.   
His eyes were an exact replica of Penny’s.   
Or rather, Penny's eyes were an exact replica of his, Tony corrected himself.   
“Will she be alright?” the man asked, his voice soft and quivering.   
“Yes. I know this is probably not the most reassuring thing to hear but she’s had worse. Believe me. She is incredibly strong and will pull through. She always does.”   
Parker shook his head. “I don’t understand. She’s...strong and fast and...she called you Dad?” he asked.   
“She is enhanced. Let’s save the full story for another time. But yeah, she is incredible. As for the other thing…” he trailed off.   
Penny didn’t often call him dad.   
It was usually reserved for highly emotional moments and whenever Penny was seriously hurt it would slip out.   
Tony loved it.   
Penny was his.   
Just like Morgan was.   
Penny had been the missing puzzle piece in his life and he cherished her as if she were his own.   
But Tony was also horrible at conveying his emotions and talking about it so most of it was more implied than ever really spoke aloud.  
And that was fine and it worked for Penny as well.   
At least he thought so.   
“I guess Mary remarried them. I understand. Thirteen years is a long time. I would have wanted her to move on. Never thought though it’d be with Tony Stark. No offence.”   
“She didn’t marry. I’m sorry Richard but...Mary is dead. She died in that plane crash.”   
Parker's eyes widened. “What?” he asked. “No, please god no! Not Mary! How? I survived! How could she die and I live?” he asked.   
_Good question,_ Tony thought.   
“Penny grew up with May and Ben.” he told the distraught man.   
Richard took a deep breath. “Right, of course. Ben. May. Oh my god. I...don’t know what to say. At least Penny had some family left.” he whispered.   
Tony winced and wondered if this was the right time to tell him that his brother was also dead. He decided against it and instead patted the man on the shoulder before leaving him.   
But not without running a hand through Penny's hair.   
Her braids had come undone at some point apparently.   
He’d have to work on that next time.   
.  
As he made his way towards the cockpit where Clint and Steve were steering them towards the city.   
As he did, he noticed that he wasn’t the only one eyeing Richard Parker critically.   
Nat leaned against the back of Clint's chair; eyes narrowed at Parker.   
“You don’t trust him.” she observed.   
Tony snorted. “Do you?” he asked back.   
“No. Not with what I saw down there.”   
He nodded.   
“We need to make sure he is not a clone.” she muttered.   
“I already checked. His and Penny's DNA match perfectly.” he whispered back.   
She glanced at him for a quick second with an unreadable expression crossing her face.   
“If he’s a clone wouldn’t the DNA be identical?” she asked.   
“It’s impossible to clone people. We don’t have that technology yet. Most attempts have either gone wrong or the clones lived only for a very brief time, never reaching adulthood.” he muttered back.   
“Are you sure?”   
“What kind of question is that? Yes, I am sure.”   
“So Maxwell is the real one as well?”   
Tony nodded. “I had FRI cross reference his DNA with the DNA on file in SHIELD’s servers. 100% match.”  
Natasha took a deep breath. “Well, since all the clones escaped and the facility exploded before I could download all they had on their servers, that pretty much sets us back to zero.” she concluded.   
“Pretty much.” Tony agreed, his eyes still trained on Richard Parker. “But maybe he knows something.” he added thoughtfully.   
.  
.  
It took some convincing but finally Richard Parker relented and let the doctors check him out while Cho tended to Penny.   
She was done faster than the doctors dealing with Richard Parker.   
She stepped out of the treatment room, throwing a pair of bloodied gloves in the trash can as she did and approached him where he stood next to the window that showed the inside of Penny's room.   
Another doctor was just finishing exchanging the IV and another one got her ready to be transported into her room down the hallways.   
“How is she?” he asked.   
“She’ll be just fine. Her healing kicked in rather quickly and repaired most of the damage by the time she got here. It helped that it didn’t hit anything vital.”  
“Except for her of course.”   
“You know what I mean. I gave her antibiotics and pain meds and redressed the wound. Now all she needs is rest. The concussion was mild and should be gone soon.”  
He nodded.   
“And what about him?” he asked, gesturing to the room one over where Richard Parker was being treated.   
Cho reached for the tablet in her coat and tapped it.   
“Preliminary assessments show that he is extremely malnourished, with blood deficiencies pretty much everywhere. He’s anaemic and his bones are brittle. I guess whatever they fed him, it was rich in vitamins or calories. He’s also battling various infections, no doubt because of his unsanitary living conditions. There’re also a lot of old but healed injuries.”  
“What kind?”   
“I think you know what kind.”   
He did.   
Torture.   
“Do me a favour. Run a DNA test, make sure he’s really how he says he is.”  
“What do you want me to run it against? I have nothing to go on.”  
“Run it against Penny’s DNA. If he really is her father, it should match, right?”   
Cho hesitated. “Tony...that is a violation of a ton of ethics rules…” she began.   
“I know. But we have to make sure. Please Helen.”  
she hesitated, then nodded.   
“And one more thing. Keep him away from Penny. For now. I’d like to speak with him first.”   
Cho looked ready to object again but then just huffed. “Fine.”  
.  
.  
With his hair cut and face clean shaven and scrubbed clean in the shower, Richard Parker looked more human than before.   
Dressed in the med-bay's blue and white pyjamas, the man sat in his hospital bed and looked around in awe.   
Tony knocked on the open door to announce his presence.   
“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.   
“Good.” Parker admitted, his hands running over the linen bedding. “But also weird. Unreal almost. I expect to wake up any second and be back in that cell… and to realize it was all just a dream...that Penny was a dream.”   
“Yeah, I get where you come from.” Tony admitted and stepped inside, closing the door behind him and sat down in the chair next to the bed.   
“When I got back from being held captive in Afghanistan everything felt surreal. But unlike you I was only there for three months. I can’t imagine what thirteen years would feel like.”  
Parker shrugged. “I guess you make do. How is Penny, can I see her?”   
“She is fine, resting. I’ll take you to see her later but you should probably rest too.” Tony lied. He didn’t have any intention of letting him near her.   
Richard sighed. “I don't know if I’ll be able…” he admitted.   
“At least try.” Tony suggested. “We need to talk to you about what went on in that facility. We know about the clones and...well...as far as we can tell right now, you’re not one of them but that still leaves a lot of questions. What you were doing there, how you survived the plane crash and what the overall goal of Scylla was.”   
Parker hesitated. “What makes you think I know anything?”   
Tony didn’t mean for it to sound so mean but he couldn’t help it.   
“Why else would they keep you alive for thirteen years? Why even bother making sure you survived the plane crash that killed your wife?”   
He thought he saw a brief flash of anger in Parkers eyes but then the man nodded, his face now mellow and afraid.   
“I guess you’re right.” he whispered.   
Tony narrowed his eyes.   
“I feel tired. I would like to rest, if you don’t mind.”   
“Of course not. If you need anything just press the button right there.” he pointed at the remote next to the bed.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Tony agreed and left the room without another word.   
.  
.  
.  
Penny awoke slowly but comfortably.   
While she felt sore, the same way she felt after a heavy work out with Steve and Bucky, she didn’t really feel hurt, which was good, considering she’d been shot.   
She lay there for a moment, remembering everything that had happened in Norway.   
Her father was alive.   
Tears welled up in her eyes.   
_“Ms. Parker, you seem to be in emotional distress. I have alerted the boss that you are awake. He is on his way. Should I inform Dr. Cho as well?”_ came FRIDAY's voice from the ceiling above.   
Penny brushed the tears aside.   
“No thank you FRI, I feel fine. Just a bit overwhelmed.” she muttered.   
There was a knock on her door.   
“Penny? Can I come in?” Tony asked from the other side, his voice urgent and concerned.   
“Yes.” she called out, carefully sitting up, wincing ever so slightly when her side reminded her of the bullet hole in it.   
Tony walked in briskly, eyes scanning her from top to bottom.   
“Are you okay? FRIDAY said you were in distress, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?” He turned over his shoulder and shouted: “Someone get Helen down her right now, please!”   
“I’m fine Tony. I just...I’m just a bit overwhelmed with everything that happened yesterday.” she explained.   
He closed the gap between them and pulled her into a hug. “I know honey. It’s a lot. I get that. It’s not everyday people return from the dead.”   
She nodded against his chest, breathing the familiar smell of motor oil, after shave and leather.   
“Is he alright? Is everybody alright?” she asked.   
“Everybody is fine. Nobody got seriously hurt. Except you of course.” he muttered.   
“Sorry.” she whispered back.   
“I’m just glad you’re alright.”   
A knock on the open door broke the moment.   
“Hello. May I come in?”   
Richard Parker stood in the door, an IV-stand with three bags hanging from it right next to him.   
Tony tried to ignore the spike of sadness and anger he felt, when Penny immediately let go of him and sat up to look at her father. Her real father.   
“Hey.” she whispered.   
“Hey to you too monkey” he said with a smile before adding “Or rather Spider-Monkey, right?”   
“You remember.” Penny breathed, a smile forming on her face.   
A smile like Tony had never seen it on her before.   
“Did I remember that you used to be my spider-baby? Oh yes. God, it used to be so difficult to put you down at night because you would just hold on tight to my shirt and would just not let go!” Parker whispered, shuffling over to the other side of Penny's bed, where he sat down.   
“Because I would listen to your heartbeat. That's how I found you. i remembered your heartbeat.” Penny whispered, reaching out with her hand.   
Parker took her hand and gently placed it over his own heart.   
“You're the reason it's still beating. I never stopped thinking about you. I missed you so much. The thought of you and your mother kept me alive.”  
Tony felt like he was intruding on a very private and intimate moment and yet he couldn’t move.   
“I missed you so much,” Penny said through tears, “But mom…”  
“I know...shhh Penny, I know. Mr. Stark here told me.” Parker said, nodding at Tony.   
“If I had known you were out there…” Penny began but Richard shook his head.   
“No baby, don’t go down that path. How could you possibly have known? No Penny, none of this is your fault!”   
Penny managed a weak smile.   
Richard leaned forwards and pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face.   
“My god. You're so beautiful. Like your mother. And I can tell you have her heart. May and Ben did a great job raising you. I can’t thank them enough.”   
Tony watched, how Penny's smile disappeared and she swallowed heavily.   
“Dad” Tony hated who she said it, “I need to tell you something.”  
“What is it, monkey?”   
“It’s about Ben.”   
“Yes?”   
“He...oh dad...I’m so sorry. He's...he’s dead.” Penny whispered, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.   
Richard looked at her as if he was frozen. “What?” he finally managed to say.   
“Almost three years ago...he was shot in a bodega robbery. It was my fault, we had an argument and I ran outside but he followed me. I thought he wouldn’t yell at me in the bodega so I went inside but there was a robbery in progress. And Ben...he tried to help but the guy shot him and fled.”   
She began sobbing hard and Tony wanted to pull her into his arms but Richard was faster and pulled her close.   
“It’s not your fault” he began though he too was now crying “You know how Ben was, always trying to save the world, always out to make it a better place, never thinking about his own wellbeing.” he whispered.   
He held her a few seconds longer before gently pulling away.   
“So, it’s just you and May then?” he asked.   
Penny nodded. “For a while. But now...now we have Tony. And Pepper and Happy and Morgan and all the other Avengers.” she looked at Tony.   
“They’re now our family as well.”  
Richard turned to look at Tony. “Thank you. For looking out for my girl.”   
Seeing his sincere eyes and hearing his grateful words, Tony felt bad again for doubting the man.   
“It was nothing” he said gruffly, “Penny and May are family.”  
“Still...that is a debt I’ll never be able to pay you back. Thank you so much.”   
Tony wanted to doubt the man, wanted to believe he was not who he said he was but it was so damn hard.   
He nodded awkwardly, not sure what to say.   
“Penny, why don’t you get some more rest. I’m sure this is all quite heavy.” he suggested.   
Penny nodded.   
Richard began to get up. “I’ll leave you to...” he began but Penny’s hand shot up, gripping his wrist.   
“No, please stay.” she whispered, her eyes already falling shut from exhaustion.   
“Of course monkey. Anything for you.” he whispered and settled down next to her, holding her hand securely between his.   
And Tony...Tony had no other choice but to slowly walk out of the room.   
.  
.  
.  
Tony sat alone in a conference room in the tower.   
The blinds were closed and the lights dimmed.   
The holograms before him displayed a variety of images, documents and other information.   
Most prominent was the wedding picture of Mary and Richard Parker.   
And next to it the coroner's report about the two bodies found in the wreckage in the swiss alps more than thirteen years ago.   
The door to the conference room opened and Natasha slid inside.   
“What do you think?” he asked, gesturing at the holograms.   
“Honestly? I don’t know yet.” she said, sitting down in the chair next to him.   
“I mean, it’s definitely him, I ran old pictures or him through every software we have and compared the outcome with a picture of him now. They match up to about 89%.”  
He hummed slightly.   
“On the other hand...this just seems...too random to be fake. Nobody could know Penny would be with us in Norway. Nobody even knows who she is and her relation to Richard Parker. It doesn’t feel like a set up, more like a happy accident.”  
He waited.   
“But I also don’t believe in happy accidents and I know what I saw. I saw clones of Steve, you and myself. I killed myself but yours got away and Penny and Bucky fought Steve's clone. I really don’t know what to think, Tony. But we have to talk to Richard Parker, that much I do know.”   
He nodded. Then he leaned forward and pointed at the coroner's report.   
“They only identified their bodies because it was their plane and because of certain personal belongings they found with the bodies. But their bodies themselves were burnt beyond recognition and so mangled that it was hard to identify them any other way.”  
“DNA?” she asked.   
“Matched. But we both know DNA is fragile and not 100% reliable.”  
“Is that why you order Cho to do another DNA test and a paternity test on Mr. Parker and Penny?”   
Tony hesitated, then sighed. “The spider-bite changed Penny’s DNA completely, rewrote entire sections and we have no sample of it from before the bite. If her DNA changed so much...maybe it’s a false positive when matched with Parkers.”  
He could feel her eyes on him.   
“Stop looking at me like that.” he said tiredly.   
“Why are you so sceptical? I thought you’d be happy for Penny.” she asked.   
“I want to keep her safe. And he doesn’t feel safe.”   
She nodded. “Alright then. I’ll see what I can dig up. But what we really need is someone who knew Richard Parker before he disappeared and knows things only the real Richard Parker would know.”  
“I wouldn’t know who. Penny was too small back then, his brother is dead and I don’t know any of his friends or colleagues.”  
“What about May?” Nat suggested.   
Tony thought about that. “Maybe. But I don’t know if she’d be an impartial party. She’ll be happy too to know he is back. I don’t know if she’d be up to cross examine him…” he doubted.   
“Well...we can still ask.”   
He nodded and she got up to leave.   
Before she was gone though he called out: “Hey Nat? Thank you.”   
She nodded. “I want to keep her safe too.” she admitted.   
.  
.  
Tony tried to make the debriefing room feel less like an interrogation room by having some intern bring up food and coffee.   
It didn’t really work.   
Richard Parker seemed to sense that the moment he was wheeled inside in his wheelchair, the IV-stand attached to it.  
Penny walked in behind him, dressed in sweatpants and a science pun t-shirt.   
It amazed him how quickly she could bounce back from practically any injury.   
The others had already gathered and aside from those who'd been with them on the mission, a much cleaner and composed looking Gideon Maxwell had joined them as well as Maria Hill and of course their favourite pirate, Nick Fury.   
The shield director narrowed his eyes when Parker rolled inside.   
Everyone took their place.   
Tony tried not to feel disappointed that Penny chose to sit next to her father instead of her usual place right next to him.   
Fury stood up.  
“About twenty-four hours ago” he began, looking around the room “Members of the Avengers initiative infiltrated a HYDRA subdivision base operated by Scylla, part of HYDRAs science division. The goal was to extract Agent Gideon Maxwell, who had been captured by said group a week before. The extraction was successful but during the mission new revelations were made.” Fury stopped.   
“Why the hell did I see footage of clones of you three” he pointed at Nat, Tony and Steve “fighting you? What kind of backwards M. Night Shyamalan plot-twist shit is this?” he asked.   
“And also...why is there a dead man sitting at my table?”   
There was a brief moment of silence, then Tony sat up straight in his chair.   
“Well, technically Nicky, it's my table. But I share the sentiment. And I think that Mr. parker here might have some answers to your questions.”   
All eyes turned to Richard Parker.  
Who sighed and with one side glance at Penny nodded and said: “My name is Dr. Richard Parker, I am, or rather I was, a geneticist at Oscorp and worked with my wife Mary on cancer- and stem cell innovations to develop cures for various illnesses and diseases. But I was abducted, my death faked and kept hostage in that Norwegian facility you found me in for thirteen years I believe.”  
Fury put his hands on the table and leaned forward.   
“And what exactly did you do there, Dr. Parker?”   
“They had found out how my wife and I grew organs from stem cells for people, using their DNA and... replicating their sick organ, just healthy. They...they wanted me to take it a step further. And made me clone people.”  
Science followed his words.   
“How? Cloning has been successful, yes but never in humans, at least not to the extent that the results were viable healthy humans. All experiments were either riddled with auto-immune diseases or died early. None ever reached adulthood. The clones we saw were not just alive and healthy, they were exact replicas of our friends.” Bruce asked, his forehead creased into a deep frown.   
“Well...Dr. Banner...I had the time, the supplies and the incentive to figure it out.” Parker said, his voice tired and weary.   
“Elaborate.” Maria Hill said sternly.   
“They said they’d kill my wife and daughter if I didn’t comply. They knew our names, our addresses, simply everything. I couldn’t let them. I didn’t know Mary had died in the plane crash. I thought if I complied, then they would leave them alone.”   
He squeezed Penny’s hand.   
“So you figured out how to clone humans successfully. Why? And why us and how many more are there?” Steve asked.   
“I don’t know why. They wouldn’t tell me. And I didn’t figure it out completely.”  
Parker leaned forward and rested his elbows on the conference table.   
“I didn’t know who I was cloning, who was growing in my lab. They wouldn’t tell me and I have no idea what happened in the world over the past decade. So I can’t tell you why. As to how many there are? I cloned three dozen people. Not all of them are people in this room but several of them.”  
“Then where were they during the attack? Why did we only see three?” Natasha asked.   
Parker sighed. “The one thing I couldn’t figure out in regards to the clones was the accelerated ageing. Clones age much faster than their original counterpart. It makes them unstable and prone to auto-immune diseases. So they are usually kept in cryostasis and brought back out for training and missions. I was working on a way to stabilize the aging process, when you found me.”  
“Missions? What missions. I thought you said you knew nothing about their doings?” Tony asked.   
“I don’t. But they would take them away sometimes for days and bring them back and they’d be hurt. I would have to treat them. They told me if one of them died, they would kill my family. I couldn’t let that happen.”  
“Yes yes” Fury growled, waving his words aside “That still doesn’t answer the question as to why they did it. Do you know any of the people you cloned? Would you be able to identify them if we gave you pictures?”  
“Possibly. But with seven billion people in the world, where would we even start?”   
“It’s safe to assume that you weren’t cloning just anybody” Hill pointed out “We’ll start with politicians and world leaders, philosophical and religious leaders and see if any of them match the people you cloned.”  
“Why bother? I thought you said the facility blew up. Most of them were in cryostasis when that happened. They’ll all be dead. Buried alive.” Parker asked, his voice shaking.   
“Not all of them. Mr. Starks double definitely escaped and we’re not sure about Captain Rogers double. Or any others Scylla might have managed to transport to safety. You can never be sure enough.” Fury muttered.   
“I’ll expect status updates tonight. Stark, you Banner and Romanoff filter through the data we were able to collect. See if anything useful comes up. Until then… the meeting is adjourned. Mr. Parker, with me.”   
Tony watched as Penny and Richard said their goodbyes and watched as he followed Fury and Hill out of the room.   
When everybody had left he got up and approached the girl.   
“How are you feeling?” he asked.   
She turned around and looked at him.   
“I don’t know if I can find the right words to describe it. I’m happy but also sad and...angry I guess and...hopeful but also I don’t know what the future will look like now. I mean I barely know him. He feels familiar but...do I now have to live with him? Will he assume his role as my father again? I mean, I am sixteen, in two years I’ll be a legal adult...is there a point in writing over yours and Mays legal rights to him for that time?”   
Tony felt sick at the idea giving Richard Parker his legal responsibilities for Penny.   
“Oh my god, May!” Penny suddenly said and shot to her feet. “We have to tell her! Oh my god, why didn’t I think of that sooner?”   
Tony put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I already called her. She’ll be here tomorrow, Happy is bringing her.”   
She hugged him.   
“Thank you so much Tony.” she said with a relieved sigh.   
“Why don’t you go ahead and call Ted or MJ, you know, to tell them you’re alive and well. I’ll have to go and go through the gathered data with Nat and Bruce.”   
“Yeah, okay. Director Fury will probably need to keep my dad for a little bit longer anyway, right?”   
“Probably.” Tony nodded.   
He watched her walk away and waited until he was sure she was out of earshot before making his way back to the workshop where he was sure Natasha and Bruce were already waiting for him.   
He promised he’d get to the bottom of this.   
.  
Richard took his dinner in the med-wing, for which he was glad.   
Since Cho was strict about her visiting hours that also forced Penny to eat with him in the common room kitchen together with Rhodey and Nat.   
Still the conversation revolved mainly around Richard Parker and Tony felt annoyed by the end of it, so much in fact that he excused himself early and went to work in his lab.   
Time passed and it was around one o’clock in the morning when FRIDAY informed him of movement outside the med-bay.   
_“Sir, it appears Richard Parker is out and about. Would you like me to escort him back to his room?”_  
Tony looked up, confused. “What’s he doing?”   
_“I am unable to tell at the moment. Would you like me to ask?”_  
“No FRI, I’ll handle it.”  
He got up and made his way over to the med-wing.   
As he got closer to the waiting area he thought he could hear Richard Parker's voice.   
Was he talking to someone? If so, who? Had Penny snuck down here to see him?   
“FRI, where is Penny?” he asked softly.   
_“Ms. Parker is currently in her room, asleep.”_ FRIDAY said in his ear.   
He walked on, sure now that it was Richard Parker he heard talking. But he couldn’t really make out any words.   
He rounded the corner and stepped into the waiting area that led to the hospital rooms, the OR and other treatment rooms, as well as Helens office and several labs.   
Richard Parker stood there in the barely illuminated room, walking up and down and muttering seemingly to himself.   
“No, they don’t know. It’s safe...it’s safe… It’s fine. Everything is going well…”   
It sounded like the ramblings of a mad-man.   
“Lights FRIDAY.” Tony said loudly and immediately the room was flooded.   
Parker jumped, clutching his chest.   
“Jesus Christ Mr. Stark, you scared me.” he said, turning around to face him.   
“What are you doing up Mr. Parker? I don’t think Dr. Cho would be too happy to see you exerting yourself like that?” he asked slowly.   
“Just restless. I needed to move.” Parker answered, his smile thin and fragile.   
He looked nervous.   
“Aha…” Tony muttered, making no attempt to leave.   
“Nightmares, actually.” Parker finally admitted.   
That made more sense.   
“It’s just...I’m still overwhelmed. This...I never thought I’d have a chance at getting my life back. At getting my Penny back.”  
Tony bit back the instinct to tell him that Penny wasn’t his.   
“Well… if you need something to help you sleep, I’m sure the night-nurse will have something for you.”   
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Stark.”   
Tony usually didn’t like being called ‘Mr. Stark’ it reminded him too much of his father. But he didn’t feel like offering Richard Parker to call him Tony. It felt wrong.   
He nodded at the man, then turned around and walked back to his lab, intent on working a bit more to take his mind of everything that had happened.   
But not an hour later FRIDAY informed him once again, that Richard Parker was wandering along the hallways, this time close to the sleeping quarters.   
Close to Penny's room.   
Fear filled Tony's veins and he rushed up towards the living floor.   
Was he right about Richard Parker? Was the man a danger? Would he try and harm Penny? Or anyone else for that matter?   
He reached the hallway that led down to the teams rooms and saw Richard looking at all the different doors.   
“Mr. Parker...still up, I see.” he said, loud enough for the man to hear him, but not loud enough (at least he hoped so) to wake up super-spies and super-teenagers.   
Once more Parker swirled around.   
“Oh..yes...how embarrassing. I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I just...I need to see Penny. Please. My thoughts won’t let me rest. So I just wanted to throw a quick glance at her but….I don’t know which door is hers…”  
Tony narrowed his eyes.   
“You can see her tomorrow.” he said steadily.   
“I know that but...I just missed her so much and...she’s so grown...I wasn’t there for most of her life and I...I don’t want to lose any more moments.” the man confessed.   
Tony didn’t buy it.   
Why would this stranger confess his innermost thoughts and feeling so willingly? It made no sense.   
Except if he wanted to trick Tony into letting his guard down around him. If he wanted Tony to trust him…  
Well,that would not work.   
_“FRIDAY; show me Penny.”_ he said slowly.   
A hologram of Penny, laying sprawled out all over her bed, deeply asleep, appeared in mid-air.   
“There, she’s fine. Now, please go back to your room before Dr. Cho gets mad at both of us.”  
Translation: I don’t want you anywhere near my kid you creep. I don’t care who you think you are.  
“She is my child. Please, you wouldn’t understand...I need to see her.” Richard tried to beg.   
“Oh, I understand. I have two daughters.” Tony snapped at him.   
“Then you’ll know how much pain I’m in right now. Please, Tony...tell me which room or otherwise I’ll be forced to open every door here.”  
Before Tony could say something, Penny door opened and the girl stepped out into the hallway, still half asleep with her hair a mess, dressed in Black Widow PJs.   
“What’s going on dad?” she asked, yawning widely.   
Tony instinctively opened his mouth to answer but Richard was quicker.   
“Hey monkey. I just had to see you. I had a bad dream and thought maybe seeing your beautiful face would help. I’m sorry if we woke you. Tony was just showing me which room is yours.” he said smoothly.   
“Oh, okay...do you want to come inside?” She asked.   
“No baby, just needed to see you. I’ll head back down to my room. Sleep tight monkey.”   
“Okay.” Penny mumbled.   
“Go back to sleep Pen. I’ll escort him back down.” Tony assured her.   
The girl nodded, turned around and went back into her room.   
Tony nodded down the hallway towards the elevators.   
“Shall we?” he asked through gritted teeth.   
Once Richard was back in his room in the med-ward, Tony went back to his own room and settled down for the night.   
Just before he turned the light off he said: “FRIDAY? Block Richard Parker from accessing the living floor during the night.”   
_“Yes Sir.”_  
.  
.  
May arrived just after breakfast was finished.   
Penny had taken Richard on a walk around the Compound, which left Tony with enough time to talk to May alone in private first.   
May looked hassled and was pacing through the living room when he got there. Happy was sitting on the couch, trying to talk to her but she wouldn’t have it.   
She stopped when she saw him.   
“This better not be some stupid prank.” She said threateningly.   
In response Tony looked up at the ceiling and asked: “FRI? Be a dear and bring up live footage of Mr. Parker if you can.”   
A hologram of a live camera feed appeared in the air between them.   
It showed Richard Parker, walking next to Penny over the Compounds grounds.   
May clasped her hands together over her mouth.   
“Oh my god, it is Richard.” she whispered and approached the image slowly.  
“May” Tony began slowly “I know that’s what it looks like but...I’m not sure yet. This doesn’t feel right.”  
She stared at him disbelievingly.   
“Tony...that is Richard, I promise you.” she said.   
“I know it looks like him but...Please May, would you just talk to him? See if he can remember like...small obscure things? Maybe...see if he really is Richard Parker?”   
She bit her lower lip.   
“You think he is not the real Richard? You think he is one of those clones?”  
Tony raised an eyebrow.   
“Happy told me.” May admitted.   
“Of course he did. But yes, that is my concern. Please May. I don't want him to hurt Penny. She is so ecstatic to have him back and...I fear what it might do to her if he…” he stopped.   
“I just want to keep her safe.” he whispered.   
May studied him for a few moments. “I know Tony. Me too. Alright, I’ll do it. But not in some clinical setting or interrogation room. Have him meet me here, maybe with Penny around. To see how he behaves.”  
.  
Tony wasn’t in the room when May Parker and Richard Parker reunited.   
He stayed in the kitchen busying himself with preparing lunch, even though breakfast was just a few hours away.   
He glanced up every now and then into the living room where the three Parkers sat on the sofas and talked.   
Penny sat nestled between her aunt and father and kept on talking constantly, waving around her hands wildly.  
Rhodey entered the kitchen from the side and joined him where he stood, watching the little family of three.   
“You know, the last time I saw that look on your face Aldrich Kilian was flirting with Pepper. You’re jealous.” Rhodey observed.   
“I’m not jealous, I am concerned. Her father just so happens to be at this facility that we raid after an agent with critical information is captured by an organisation that until then stayed under SHIELD's radar for probably several decades? What are the odds?”   
“I think you are reading too much into this.” Rhodey muttered.   
“Oh really, what would you do if Howard suddenly stood in my living room and told you that they faked his death using a body-double-clone or something and that he was now back for good?”  
Rhodey sighed. “That is different.”  
“It’s really not.”  
He watched as May got up, said something that made both Penny and Richard laugh and then slowly made her way over to the kitchen.   
“So?” he asked her in a lowered voice when she reached them and sat down at the kitchen island.   
She hesitated. “Tony...I...look, maybe it was the stress of the mission and Penny getting injured...but... I’m pretty sure that is Richard Parker. Penny's father. Ben's brother.” she whispered.   
Tony felt his expression drop. “May...are you sure?” he asked, trying not to sound desperate.   
“Am I sure that that is my brother-in-law and my very happy niece? Yes Tony, I am sure.”   
“Tony, knock it off!” Rhodey cut in. “You’re jealous, that's fine. But don’t ruin this for Penny. Or for May.”   
“You’re wrong. I’ll prove it to you. There is something really shady about him.” Tony growled back and marched towards the living room.   
He ignored Rhodeys cursing behind him and made a beeline for the couch.   
“Hey you two.” He greeted them in the most fake cheerful manner. Penny didn’t seem to notice but Richard narrowed his eyes ever so little.   
“Oh hey Tony! Dad just told me about how he and my mom met on a plane. They had overbook the plan and upgraded him to first class right next to her and then they spent the entire flight talking about science and when they landed he asked her to move in with him and marry him. Isn’t that crazy. That could be something you would do.” Penny said brightly and laughed.   
“Yes, how fun. Tell me, Richard, while we’re on the topic of planes...what do you remember about the crash that killed your wife?” Tony asked, ignoring Penny’s anecdote.   
“Woha, way to kill the mood Tony.” Penny muttered, apparently sensing his bad mood.   
“I don’t remember anything about that.” Richard said calmly. “And they told me she survived. That they only took me. And faked my death so nobody would come looking for me…”  
“A bit weird they’d leave your wife alive, don’t you think? What if she noticed something about the body? What if she started investigating what caused the crash? Because the investigators clearly ruled an accident out. If I was her, I would have asked a lot of questions...that could have been dangerous to their plan. Why bother keeping her alive?”  
“Yeah, well, she’s not alive, is she? She died. They lied to me.” Richard shot back.   
“Then why did you believe them? Surely they must have given you evidence that she was alright when they threatened you in order to get you to comply with their wishes.”  
“They knew her name, where we lived...it was real!”   
“Oh please, a quick google search can reveal all that information. How can you not remember, how can you spend thirteen years in that hole and not know a single thing about their plan? It took me less than an hour to figure out your grand plan.”  
“Tony, enough!” Rhodey bellowed, using his military voice.   
“The plan is to replace major politicians and leaders all around the world with your clones. Clones who will do the bidding of Scylla and influence world politics the way they want to. Thirteen years there and you never figured it out? You were hailed as one of the smartest people of your generation, hell, even the century. And you want to tell me you couldn’t figure it out? The only reason you wouldn’t be able to figure it out is if you weren’t Richard Parker.”  
He stopped for a second, searching Parker's face for any clues.   
“I think you are lying. I think you are not the real Richard Parker. You are an imposter. And I don’t know what your game is but I sure as hell know you are a fraud.”  
“Tony, stop!” May ordered but he ignored her too.   
“Who were you talking to last night? Why do you sneak around the compound? You are spying on us, aren’t you? Probably passing the information on to Scylla.”  
“TONY!” Penny’s cry stopped his tirade.   
He looked up, saw her horrified and angry face, her balled fists and took a step back.   
His eyes fell on Rhodey and May, who both looked angry and disappointed.   
His gaze fell back onto Parker, when the man slowly got up.   
“You know what Mr. Stark. You are right. I’m not Richard Parker. Richard Parker was a brilliant man with dreams and hopes of helping the world. But thirteen years of trorture and trauma in that place have changed me” The man began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing an upper body that was littered with scars “I’m not Richard Parker anymore. Cut off from the world for more than a decade, sparse human contact and constantly suffering abuse at the hands of my captors to fulfil their evil wishes made me a husk of the man I once was. I lost my edge, I admit that. But I didn’t care about their plans. I cared about being alive so I could return to my family. And staying alive meant following their rules. Keeping my head down, following orders, never asking questions. Maybe it was foolish to believe they’d keep my family alive. But I needed something to hold onto. Because otherwise I would have died long ago. Mr. Stark...all I want is my family back. I’m sorry if you feel threatened by my presence but...that is truly all I ever wanted. My family. I congratulate you on figuring out their evil plan. Now you and your formidable group of heroes can go out there and save us. But I am no hero. I do not have what it takes to put the need of the people before my own. I just wanted to hold my baby in my arms once more. I let that place destroy me because if that was what it took to get her back” he pointed at Penny “Then by god it was worth it. And maybe that is selfish. But I wouldn’t change it.”  
Silence echoed through the room.  
Parker held Tony's gaze evenly. Penny tucked in under his arm.   
“Tony, maybe you should go, cool down in the lab, hu?” Rhodey asked, his voice hard and commanding.   
Tony turned on his heel, angry and slightly humiliated.   
Without a word he left.   
.  
.  
The next few days, Tony stayed in his lab most of the time except during a second briefing with Fury, where Nat Bruce and he elaborated on what they thought the bad guys' plan was with the clones.   
While Fury set the appropriate gears into motion to stop that plan, Tony decided to leave the compound and drive home to the lake house to see his wife and daughter.   
While they were both happy to see him, Penny's absence was heavily felt.   
He got several messages from several of his friends telling him he should apologize to Penny and Richard.   
He ignored them all.   
.  
.  
A week after his confrontation with Richard Parker, Tony sat on the porch swing, Morgan tucked underneath his arm, fast asleep, scrolling through his phone when a message from Rhodey came in.   
_‘Steve, Nat, Sam, Bucky and I are headed back to Scandinavia. SHIELD intelligence has caught news about some unusual dealings near the facility we raided. Might be a clue as to what Scylla is planning next. Penny and Richard are still at the Compound. Might be a good time to settle things and apologize.’_  
Angrily he pushed the message away.   
Another message appeared, this time from Penny.   
That surprised him.   
While he had texted her several times over the week and even called, she had always declined his calls and ignored his texts.   
He opened the message,   
It was a picture, a bird's-view of Manhattan.   
A view he knew all too well.   
It was the view from the roof of Stark Tower.   
Why was Penny there? Rhodey had just told him she was at the Compound with Richard…  
A bad feeling grew in his chest. Something was wrong.   
Something was majorly wrong.   
He tapped Penny’s contact and hit the call button.   
One ring, two rings, three rings…  
Someone picked up.   
_“Hello Stark. I think we need to talk. In private. About what’s going on.”_ drawled Richard Parker into his ear.  
“Where is Penny?” he asked through gritted teeth.   
_“Oh...she’s hanging around… What can I say, teenagers...so lazy...”_  
“If you hurt her…” Tony began but he was cut off by the man.   
_“Yes yes, death and all that...But for that you first have to get here. Hurry up.”_ Then he hung up.   
.  
.  
Tony should have called for backup but he was too worried.   
He handed a sleeping Morgan to Pepper who just nodded and whispered: “Bring our girl home.”   
He nodded, the suit encased him and off he was.   
.  
He landed on the roof of his Tower.   
Richard stood there, waiting for him. His stance was wide, his hands buried leisurely in his pockets and a stupid smirk right there on his lips.   
“The great Tony Stark!” he greeted Tony when he landed.   
Tony had no eyes for him though.   
It was what was behind him that had him hold his breath.   
It looked like gallows.   
Somehow Parker had attached a rope to the antenna on top of his tower and tied it into a noose. And instead of a platform with a trap-door through which the convict would usually fall, there were only two wooden poles, maybe six feet tall and two inches by two inches wide.   
And balancing on said poles on her tip-toes with said noose wrapped tightly around her neck and her arms tied behind her back with Vibranium cuffs, blindfolded and gagged stood Penny.   
Her face was pale, tears tracking down her cheeks and she was shaking.   
Tony didn’t need to be told that if Penny lost her balance or if the wooden poles fell or broke, she would fall far enough for the force to snap her neck. Killing her instantly.   
“Let her go!” he growled. “It’s me you want, isn’t it? Leave her out of this!”  
Parker ignored him.   
“You know, I really thought I could trick you. I mean, I had everyone else fooled. But not you... No, you looked right through me, didn’t you? Made my job so much harder.” he shook his head.   
“You were right, of course. I am not Richard Parker. We killed Richard Parker when he had outgrown his usefulness and given us all he was capable of. I was one of his first cloning experiments. We used his DNA, because it was the easiest thing to get. It went well. Until I started becoming sick and he had to regrow every single one of my organs and exchange them for my sick ones. That wasn’t so great.”  
Tony remembered all the scars not-Parker had shown him.   
“But he figured out a solution for that problem as well and we proceeded with the next phase of our plan. The plan you so cleverly figured out. I knew it was risky trying to kidnap a SHIELD agent so blatantly but nobody ever listens to me. I told them it would attack the wrong kind of attention. Oh well… not that it matters now. My siblings will join us soon and together we will usher in a new age for this world. And you will be leading us into it.”   
“Yeah, nice speech but I’m not doing anything for you. Now step away from her or I will shoot you.”   
“No you won’t.” Not-Parker said with a smile and stepped aside. “Because if you do, he will make sure she falls and breaks her pretty little neck.”  
Behind him someone stepped out from behind the antenna base.   
Someone with dark hair and a goatee, dressed in an Armani suit. Someone who looked exactly like him.   
Fake-Tony strolled over to one of the poles and leaned against it, cockily raised an eyebrow.   
The pole quivered dangerously. Penny swayed, almost losing her balance.   
“I honestly didn’t expect Richard Parker's daughter to be Spider-Girl but it made my infiltration so much easier, I have to admit.”  
He laughed. “What a happy little coincidence. Seems like everything’s coming up Scylla's way.”   
Then his voice hardened.   
“Now, be a good little machine, step out of that suit so that I can kill you.” he said. “Or do not and watch your child die. Your call.”   
On top of the pole, Penny struggled and tried to shout through her gag but Fake-Tony kicked the pole, almost causing her to fall again. “Quiet.” he grunted. God, he sounded like Tony.   
Not-Richard Parker drew a gun from somewhere and pointed it at Tony.   
“Today, Mr. Stark.”  
“You will never be able to convince my team that that’s me!” Tony yelled, trying to buy time.   
Not-Parker laughed. “Oh yes he will. He spent his whole life studying your every move, every word you’ve said, learning everything there is to know about you. He is very convincing.”  
“It will never work. Not even I know myself that well! And Penny will tell them it’s not me.” he shouted.   
Not-Richard laughed. “Okay, you’re right, that’s true. Good thing then she won’t be around to tell anyone.”  
He smirked. “Did you really think I would let her live? Of course not. No, I will kill you, then I will kill her and then he” he pointed at fake-Tony “Will kill me, assume your place and tell your little group of Superheroes that I was an imposter and abducted her to get to you. You rushed in to save her but were too late and she died. But you managed to get revenge. The others will feel bad for doubting your instincts and nobody will question a few tiny changes in your personality after witnessing the death of your daughter. It’s perfect, you have to admit that.”   
It was a well thought out plan. But it would never work. Still, Tony wasn’t ready to bet his and especially not Penny's life on that.   
“Now step out of the suit!”  
“It’s a good plan” Tony admitted, the suit retracting around him “But you should have thought it through more. FRIDAY, my AI, has her eyes and ears everywhere. She runs this place. Including the roof. She has recorded what happened here and already sent out a distress signal. Reinforcements will arrive in minutes. Your plan is done.”   
Not-Richard Parker paled.   
“No! You’re lying.”  
“See, that is the problem with you egomaniacs, hell-bent on ruling the world. You always have to tell others about your grand plans and how you did it. You should have just shot me and be done with it. But no, you have to gloat, dragging this out. And now...see what it got you. Absolutely nothing.”  
He stepped closer, his voice dropping down dangerously low. 

“Did you really think you could outsmart me? Not to brag but I am the smartest human on this planet. The only one close, if not even surpassing me, is that girl right there behind you. And that girl also happens to be my kid. And you do not get to threaten my family like this and walk away with your life still intact.”  
Not-Richard Parker looked even paler and the gun in his hand shook slightly.   
“Kill her!” he shouted.   
Tony's eyes widened and he cursed himself for getting distracted.   
Within a second the gauntlet had formed around his hand and he had shot not-Richard Parker.   
The clone collapsed to the ground unmoving.   
A second later Tony was sprinting across the roof at fake-Tony who was about to knock over the first pole.   
It fell away and Penny was left struggling standing on one leg, balancing her weight on one pole. Even her sticky spider-powers would be of no help if she lost her balance now.   
Tony collided with his clone just before he could knock over the other pole and they went tumbling across the gravel, clothes and skin tearing open.   
Tony was up first and threw punch after punch, trying not be too freaked out by his own face staring back at him.   
Fake-him dodged and moved in, catching him in the ribs.   
Tony went stumbling backwards, catching his breath.   
He managed to block the wild left and proceeded to move in himself, flipping the fake-him over his shoulder.   
His clone got back up but instead of charging at him he turned and ran.   
For a second Tony thought he’d run away.   
But then the blood froze in his veins.  
He was running straight at Penny.   
And the one remaining pole.   
**“NO!”**  
Tony ran after his fake-self.   
Fake-Tony didn’t stop, he just barrelled through the pole, tearing it away.   
Tony’s heart stopped when he saw Penny fall.   
He forced his body to go faster and jumped, just in time to catch her kicking legs, keeping her from falling the last bit the would have snapped her neck clean in two. Instead he held her high, supporting her weight, instead of the rope.   
“I got you Penny, I got you baby! You’ll be alright!” he grunted.   
“Well...this is quite the picture.” drawled not-Richard.   
Tony groaned. So the fucker was still alive. Pity. He tried to raise the hand still encased in a gauntlet but he couldn’t, not while holding Penny.   
Not-Richard had gotten to his feet.   
And picked up the gun.   
He aimed it at Tony.   
“If I kill you now, she dies as well. Two birds, one stone. Even if my plan failed, I will still have rid the world of you, Tony Stark. That’s a win in my book.”  
He pulled the trigger.   
.  
.  
.  
.  
When the bullet slammed into Tony's chest he wasn’t scared for his life.   
Years and years in the spotlight, working in the weapons industry and being kidnapped himself had made Tony cautious.   
Cautious enough to wear bulletproof clothes.   
But while the bullet didn’t pierce his skin, it didn't stop it from knocking him off his feet.   
And thus releasing his hold on Penny.   
he watched in horror, as he fell, how she fell.   
He slammed into the ground, gasping for breath, while Penny hung from the rope, her windpipe being crushed by the noose.   
Her mouth opened and closed like that of a fish on dry land and her body shook and twitched as she tried to free herself.   
_Get up_ , he shouted at himself, _get up, safe her!_  
He rolled over, coughing and spluttering, faintly aware of not-Richards cry of indignation.   
He got to his feet and stumbled towards Penny, grasping her legs and hoisting her up, taking the pressure of her throat and allowing her to take a mangled breath.   
“Protective shirt, I see. Maybe I should shoot you in the knee this time. Let’s see if you get up from that.”  
Another shot rang out.   
This time it hit his thigh.   
Tony yelled in pain as his leg gave way underneath him and he dropped again, his hold on Penny failing.   
White hot pain pulsated through his leg and he groaned.   
_Get up, it’s a flesh wound, it will heal but Penny cannot breathe, get up_ , he yelled at himself again.   
He got up.   
Grunting at the pain and shifting his entire weight onto his left leg, he grabbed Penny again and hoisted her up once more.   
“Touching, really. But even the great Tony Stark cannot get up with a bullet lodged in his oh so large and clever brain.” he heard fake-Parker taunt through the haze of pain and fear that was consuming his mind.   
He would not let go of Penny. No matter what, he would not let go.   
“I got you Penny. I swear I will not let go! I love you baby, okay? I got you!” he whispered.   
She struggled, her voice and words muffled by the gag.   
God, she could not die like this. Not because of him. Not tricked by a person she had thought was her father.   
He heard the gun being cocked again. He closed his eyes, holding on to Penny tightly.   
“I got you.” he whispered.   
A blast shook the roof and the familiar high-pitched whine of repulsor firing at something cut through the air.   
But Tony stood where he was, holding up Penny, ignoring the pain and burning in his leg.   
“TONES!”   
Tony could have cried when he heard Rhodes' panicked voice and a second later someone was by his side, taking Penny’s weight off him.   
He opened his eyes and saw Rhodey there, his best friend's eyes wide and full of panic.   
“Someone cut her down!” Rhodey yelled.   
And then Steve was there, his shield slicing through the air and through the rope. Penny sacked in Rhodes' grip and he laid her down. Tony collapsed next to her, shaking hands trying to get the noose of her throat but they couldn’t seem to get a grip.   
“Take it off, Rhodey please, take it off, she can’t breathe.” he whispered, aware of the panic attack building up inside of him.   
His hands were pushed aside and the noose gently pulled over Penny’s head, as well as the gag and the blindfold.   
Her head lolled to the side.  
“Oh my god, Penny, please breathe!” Tony whispered hysterically, shaking her shoulders.   
For a horrible second Penny remained unmoving, pale as a ghost.   
And then she sucked in a breath, spluttering and gasping.   
“Oh my god.” Tony sobbed and quickly pulled her up and into a bone-crushing hug. With a swift movement of his shield, Steve cut through the Vibranium shackles on Penny wrists and then Penny was returning Tony's embrace, shaking and sobbing.   
But at least she was alive.   
“It’s alright, I got you Penny. I promise. God, everything will be alright.”   
.  
.  
.  
Tony was resting on the couch at the lake house, leg propped up by a hundred pillows, when Penny emerged from her bedroom.   
She made a straight bee-line for him and carefully snuggled into his side.   
Even though two weeks had passed since their near-death experience at the top of the Tower, Penny still wore high collared sweaters and scarfs around her neck, burning herself under the massive amounts of fabric.   
They hadn’t talked much since then, just staying close to each other.   
“I’m sorry.” Penny said suddenly, her voice meek and rough as though she’d been crying. Which she probably had been.   
“I just...I think a part of me knew it was too good to be real but...The possibility of getting my dad back…” she trailed off “it was stupid. I don’t need my dad back. Because I already have one.” she whispered. “I’m so sorry Tony.”   
Tony felt his heart melt and ache at the same time.   
“You do not have to apologize for anything Penny. I understand how you feel. If it had been my mom...I’m sure I would have acted the same.” he whispered and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.   
“I love you.”  
“I love you too.”   
They would be okay.


End file.
